I’m writing more about Hades II (Supergiant Games) and if I’m going to continue with it or not. Here is my post from yesterday in which I was quite frank that this was about me and not the game (mostly). I’ve been plugging away at it, but I’m just really frustrated with the big boss. I feel like there’s a trick that I’m not getting because–well, I’m not going to get into it, but there’s a tough boss fight and then there’s this. I have said before that I don’t like it when a boss can one-shot me. This boss can do that, and it’s not even close. It can do thousands of points of damage, and there is no way I am going to be able to not get hit by the boss.
This is when I start getting down on myself and doubting whether I can actually do it. “It” being beating the big boss. Yes, I have done it up to this point, but oftentimes, it’s by the skin of my teeth, and I know I’m getting closer and closer to my ceiling.
I had to cheese every boss pass the fourth one in Lies of P (Round8 Studio/NEOWIZ). Mild game mechanic spoiler for that game. Almost every boss past that one had two phases. Well, the fourth boss also had two phases, but I did not have the material needed for the cheese at when I was fighting that boss. That was such a miserable fight. I should have quit then and there, but as I have noted a time or twelve, I’m fucking stubborn.
I finished the game as I went through much of it–cheesing the hell out of the boss in the second phase. Did I feel good about it after I beat the secret last boss? No. But I did what I had to do (including changing up my entire build for that boss). By that point, I was watching videos on how to cheese each boss because there was no way I was going to do it legit. I played it on Game Pass, and when the DLC came out, the game was gone from Game Pass. There was no way I was going to buy the game and the DLC when I did not enjoy the game.
I heard the DLC was nails hard, and I was really glad I did not put myself through that. The DLC for Elden Ring (Shadow of the Erdtree) was also way harder than I wanted it to be, especially the last boss. That boss pre-nerf was ridiculous, and not in a good way. FromSoft always toes the line between really fucking hard and unfairly hard, especially with the final boss of their DLCs, and this one was way past the line. Even post-nerf, I don’t enjoy the fight.
Back to this game, though. All the bosses are bullet sponges. Except the third boss on the way down, weirdly enough. I find that boss to be fairly easy–by the way, I love that boss and how it fits into the overall picture. The boss was in the first game, but in a totally different way. That’s one thing I really love about the two games–how connected they are. I mean, of course they are because they’re about the same (broad) group of people.
It’s one of my favorite things about the games, by the way–how they are connected. I love knowing what I know about the first game while playing the second game. I love that in a certain boss fight, the band changes their songs to match what’s going on in the game. I have included songs by this band in past posts, and I’m going to do the same in this post, too. This is the second fight when you’re going the down route. I’ve fought it a dozen times by now? Maybe more. Probably more. And while it’s still frustrating at times, I don’t usually die on this fight. Sometimes, I take more damage than I should, but that’s always going to be the case for me.
Today, as I was making my way through the second biome, I noticed that the song was different. It was slower and more haunting (the other ones were faster and angrier). When I hopped into the boss arena (an arena), Melinoë noted that it was a different song, and the singer went off on a rant about how Melinoë just didn’t undrestand music. I mean, the lead singer does this all the time during the boss fight, anyway, but there was more pain this time in her voice.
The title of the song and the band name flashed up in the left-hand corner, and with a start, I realized that the whole scene looked and felt like a music video. I was so there for it, and I was sad when they cut back to the game. That was such a cool thing for them to do, and I really appreciated it.
I’m happy that I’m making progress in my personal relationships back at The Crossroads. That’s the hub area to which I return after every run. I’ve had several of them locked off (this was how it was in the last game, too). I cast the spell/incantation that told me what I needed to do with each person to further our relationship, which is so helpful. Most of the time before that, if they did not want the gift I was offering to them, they wouuld give it back.
Now, it’ll tell me which gift the person will accept at the time or if they won’t accept any gift at all at this time. I know for some people, that might seem a little prescriptive/rigid/spoilery, but for me, there are some things that I don’t mind being spoiled–and this is one of them.
I am really close to bonking two of the characters. Or at least getting very close to them. There are several that I’m late in the relationship game, but the next heart is locked. That means that I have to progress the story (meaning be,at these two damn bosses I’m stuck on) in order to unlock their hearts. Though with the two I’ve unlocked, it was personal progress with each of them more so than beating the next boss/progressing the story at large.
I have a feeling that I’m going to break soon when it comes to how to tackle these two big bosses. Well, with one of them, anyway. There is no way I’m supposed to be able to withstand thousands of points of damage in one hit.
I’m done for now. Morre tomorrow.